Texas pits in highway safety laws

Erin Mulvaney and Ioanna Makri, Beaumont Enterprise

By Erin Mulvaney and Ioanna Makris

Published 8:36 am, Wednesday, January 16, 2013

It is estemated that one person has died every day on Texas roads since November 7, 2000. Texting while driving is among the many reasons for the alarming statistic.
Photo taken Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

You should still "Drive friendly," as the welcome to Texas sign suggests, but you might not want to drive the "Texas way."

Texas ranks among the worst states for passing highway safety laws, according to an annual report released Tuesday.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety released the "Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws," grading all 50 states and the District of Columbia on their performance based on 15 basic traffic safety laws. Texas - the first state to pass an 85-mile-per-

hour speed limit last year - joined several states in the bottom of the rankings.

State lawmakers have been slow to adopt some of the measures the national safety group sees as steps to improve road safety and reduce deaths, including restrictions on teen drivers and bans on texting.